St Andrews Academy
St Andrew's Academy was a Roman Catholic secondary school in the seaside town of Saltcoats, North Ayrshire, Scotland, which was named after the patron saint of Scotland Saint Andrew. It was open from 1971-2007.The School was formed in 1971 when the Education System changed from Senior & Junior Secondary Schools to a Comprehensive system. Previously, Roman Catholic pupils who passed the old '11+' exam attended the Senior Secondary at St Michael's in Kilwinning; those who failed attended St Peter's Junior Secondary in Ardrossan. The 'new' St Andrew's was the old Saltcoats Junior Secondary School which ceased to exist when the new Auchenharvie Academy opened in Stevenston. St Andrew's had a very large catchment area, taking pupils from Largs, West Kilbride/Seamill, Ardrossan, Saltcoats and Stevenston.St Andrews always excelled both academically and on the sporting field. The school always acquitted itself well in the Government League tables.The school was closed and demolished in 2007 and pupils were merged with pupils from St Michaels Academy, Kilwinning to be educated in St. Matthew's Academy, which first opened October 29, 2007. St. Matthew's Academy was built directly next to St. Andrew's and as of October 2008 had 1392 pupils.Notable former pupils Roy Aitken (Former Celtic captain and currently Assistant Manager for Birmingham City.) Jim Delahunt (Footballing pundit, ex-presenter of Scotsport, now with Irish based satellite channel Setanta) Mark Reid (Former Celtic Player.) Steve Clarke (WBA manager)
